. >> our washington bureau chief joins us now. obama stays in the white house. republicans retain the house of representatives. democrats maintain their majority in the senate. basically, we are seeing the same cast of characters. what do you think will be different this time around? >> that depends very much weather you are an optimist or a pessimist. at the end of this year, there is this fiscal cliff. president obama has to solve it. austerity measures, a huge increase of taxes -- all this is going to happen if democrats and republicans do not come together, so i can offer three scenarios -- the first would be that there is no willingness of compromise, that they will just take the can down the road. it would be disaster for the u.s. and the rest of the world. second scenario -- a new willingness of compromise and coming together, and i do not think this is likely to happen, so there is scenario 3, that everybody has to give up something. this would mean, for example, for democrats that they will have to accept that there will be strong cuts in entitlements -